Diastrophus radicum
Irregular bramble root gall wasp
Host: Northern dewberry (Rubus flagellaris) and black raspberry (R. occidentalis).
Gall location: On the roots, always below the surface of the soil.
Description: A many-chambered swelling. Highly variable in shape and size, ranging from pea-shaped and less than a half centimeter to amorphous and globular, three centimeters in diameter.
Range: Fairly widespread, from New England south to North Carolina. Some less-verifiable records indicate that this gall occurs as far south and west as Louisiana.
The two host species on which this gall is found belong to two different subgenera, making the irregular bramble root gall rather unique amongst bramble galls. It is possible that galls on either host are actually separate species, but this has yet to be substantiated.
”- Louis Nastasi, Charles Davis: (2022) Field Guide to the Herb and Bramble Gall Wasps of North America©